


Scarlet Sand

by Lamia of the Dark (VisceraNight)



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Angst, Dark, F/M, Family, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 15:45:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2738033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisceraNight/pseuds/Lamia%20of%20the%20Dark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oneshot. Shigure always resented the way Ren treated Akito but now he understands it, because he feels the same way about his own child. Dark and angsty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scarlet Sand

~ Scarlet Sand ~

Shigure had always resented the way Ren treated Akito, but now he felt he understood her. He understood her feelings and now knew how she could treat her child the way she did.

He understood, because he felt the same way about his own child.

He didn't understand how Akito could be so happy about it, so blissfully unaware that the fetus's incubation period was a countdown timer to her own death.

Shigure hated his own child, because it was taking her away from him. He hated watching with every passing day as the child grew within her and Akito grew weaker.

She would die and the child would live, and it wasn't right. It wasn't  _fair_. He didn't like it and he didn't want it, but he had to smile and play the part of the happy father. He couldn't let Akito know his true feelings about their child because she would refuse to see him if she knew he felt the same way about their child as Ren did about her, and he couldn't bear the thought of being separated from her during the last days of her life.

And then the baby was born. It was a girl. Akito named her Shizuka. He hated that she'd chosen to name the child after him.

When she smiled and held out the baby for Shigure to take, he hesitated. He saw Ren looking at him with sympathic eyes and, remembering his promise to himself to not let Akito know that he was exactly the same kind of parent that Ren was, he cautiously took Shizuka into his own hands.

He noticed that Akito was looking at him strangely and realized she was probably wondering why he didn't hold the child close.

"She's a girl - I'd transform," he explained quietly as he handed the child back to her. But that was just a convenient excuse he used to mask the real reason.

And Ren, adding insult to an old injury, chose that moment to come over and ask, "May I hold her?"

Akito's jaw dropped and she stared in disbelief as her mother - who had never once held Akito as a child - stood before her with arms outstretched, patiently waiting to be allowed to hold Akito's daughter.

"No," Shigure said, moving between them.

Ren backed down because she could see in his eyes that Shigure was only denying her request in order to shield Akito. Once Akito was gone, Ren would be allowed to bond with her grandchild as much as she liked.

Akito's health deteriorated quickly following the birth and within a scant few days she faded completely.

At the funeral, Shigure and Kureno were the ones who lingered longest at Akito's grave.

"I can't," Shigure burst out suddenly.

Kureno turned to look at him in surprise.

"I can't," Shigure repeated. "I just can't...  _you_  be her father."

He pushed Shizuka into Kureno's arms, and ran.

~end~


End file.
